Experimenting with AntennaPod I notice that quite a few podcasts use unencrypted HTTP over port 80. For example, podcasts from the BBC. AntennaPod itself offers no way to require TLS.
Also, AntennaPod does not strip the tracking information from podcast URLs.
Self-hosting a podcast server might not be a bad idea.
It's desktop only (no Android or iOS support) which makes me wonder: what percentage of overall podcast listening occurs on a desktop computer? Polls on this are all over the place, but I would guess maybe 10-15%? For me, podcast listening has always been an inherently mobile activity, and it would drive me nuts if I had podcatchers on multiple devices that were out of sync with each other.
gPodder started in 2005 when I needed a tool on Linux to download podcasts and sync it to my iPod mini, so even back then it was mostly about downloading on the Desktop, and my phone of the day didn't have much storage space for audio, let alone a 3.5mm headphone jack (I remember getting a "MP3 player phone" with 3.5mm headphone jack and dedicated media player buttons, the 5310 around 2006 or 2007 at which point the iPod as a dedicated device starting to become redundant).
At some point though, phones (and "mobile Internet devices") became powerful and programmable enough that it made sense to port gPodder to "Desktop Linux Userland"-based devices and phones (N800, N810, N900, N9, Jolla) and run it directly on the phone.
These days, my day-to-day podcast consumption happens with the built-in Podcasts app on the iPhone, but gPodder (on the Desktop) is still useful for downloading and archiving (hoarding) YouTube subscriptions (especially since there are so many ads on the web and TV versions of YouTube), mixes from Soundcloud and others and just interesting podcast episodes that might not be available in the future.
I even recently submitted a patch to re-introduce iPod support, so the current version can sync to iPod minis again if you want to have a distraction-free retro podcast listening experience on the go :)
The app is actually linked from the submitted page, but it's easy to miss there.
I also noticed that if I create list of shows to listen to later, I end up listening to more interesting stuff, as I filter out items which are not as useful few weeks later.
Today, there‘s an adaptive variant of GPodder[0] so that people with PinePhone, Librem 5 or ported Android phones running Linux Mobile can use GTK-based GPodder on mobile.
(This does not matter in terms of numbers, as that‘s at best a few thousand people, but still.)
> Polls on this are all over the place, but I would guess maybe 10-15%?
Edison Research says that desktops/laptops account for 13% of listening in Q4'2021, having dropped 7% since the start of that year. I'd predict that it falls to under 10% by the end of 2022.
It is probably low as you presumed, but I personally try to do as little as possible on my phone. gPodder was great for me when I was actively listening to podcasts at the beginning of the pandemic. I appreciate the snappiness of desktop apps over web apps, so I'm probably the target audience.
In the early days of podcasts I listened to them on my computer (downloaded over precious dial up time, where the time to download the episode was longer than the time required to listen to it), but as soon as I got an iPod they were a mobile thing for me.
From my unscientific surveys between friends I'm the only dedicated 100% only-on-the-desktop listener, so I'd guess more 5% - but maybe 10-15% for "I don't care, wherever".
Incidentally I had used JuiceReceiver for years until it stopped working (due to the SSL algos from 2005 finally giving in) and then wrote a replacement in C++/Qt with an online backend, just to track which episodes I listened to (and because it was fun, mostly).
Yes, desktop only, however there are a number of podcast apps that support gpodder.net syncing. I use AntennaPod on Android, and gPodder on Fedora desktop.
I used to only listen on desktop, at work, and for a while with gPodder. Now I use AntennaPod on mobile and sometimes others. Desktop is nice when you're doing something routine and enjoy hearing a conversation or trivia in the background.
gPodded is pretty neat, I have tried it on Sailfish (and likely also long time ago on N800 with maemo)
I just discovered podverse from browsing f-droid a few days ago, has some similarities with pocket cast which I have been using since before they were sold the first time.
You can also use the news app for nextcloud to show podcasts along with rss news stories, if you are looking for something along those lines.
I actually just submitted the podverse link for discussion here just a few mins ago, so I am pasting a link:
I used gPodder on the N900 long after after it was useless as a phone (because of the network upgrade), until downloading broke because I couldn't update ssl easily (and the internet had upgraded.)
It integrated with Panucci, which for me has an ideal (although a little unfinished) interface for playing podcasts/ebooks, I don't know what I'm going to do without Panucci when the N900 finally goes kaput. I heard its code is horrific, though, and that the qPodder guy hated it.
I'm desperate to find a podcatcher suitable for binging. macOS or iOS. Like chewing thru the 400 episodes of the (OG) History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps.
I've tried every iOS app I could find. They're all turrible for this use case. Yes, even Overcast. [1]
I truly wonder if anybody making the apps ever used their own apps.
I just tried gPodder. Alas, the UI is 1/4 size.
[1] Overcast shows played episodes in the unplayed tab. So to download episode 200, I have to scroll down thru 199 played episodes, then manually download the next episodes. Yes, I filed bug reports.
A more accurate way of saying it is "machines you don't have admin rights on". As a standard user, you can still run pretty much anything from anywhere. There are ways to lock this down, of course.
I was looking for an open source client to reclaim my podcast collection and found everything I was looking for in gPodder. There doesn't seem to have much discussion about this great app in the past here, so let's discuss !
I'm happy to be able to download "physical" (how ironic) copies of my favourites episodes in mp3 and can't wait to try to automatise their transfer to my fiio X3 for offline listening.
Also, I can see an alternative to Youtube in this, so feel free to share flow if you do use gPodder for staying uptodate with your YT subscriptions !
There was some discussion about integrating SponsorBlock into AntennaPod (a popular open source podcast app) a while back, but it didn't go anywhere. Ajay (developer of SB) was very open to the idea, so anyone interested in developing ad skipping technology for podcasts should probably get in touch with them. I think getting a proof of concept podcast app that skips ads should not be all that difficult.
I love paying for content like that (when the content is good of course). It’s one of the few mediums where some creators allow me to be in control of how they monetize my viewership.
It drives me crazy that on YouTube I pay for premium and still need to sidestep ads. It makes sense; the creators don’t get paid directly from my membership and if they did it would be fractions of pennies. But that’s the problem; I want to support them directly. The platform is nice, but it’s mostly fungible. The excellent content often isn’t.
I think an hour+ podcast is absolutely valuable. Some are incredibly thoughtful and well-produced. I hope more podcasters adopt this model!
As far as I understand there is no way to synchronize the progress of podcasts. I often listen to longer podcasts and jump between devices. Right now I am stuck with Pocket Casts and use WSA on my work and gaming machine but obviously it's not the best solution.
Readit News
Also, AntennaPod does not strip the tracking information from podcast URLs.
Self-hosting a podcast server might not be a bad idea.
At some point though, phones (and "mobile Internet devices") became powerful and programmable enough that it made sense to port gPodder to "Desktop Linux Userland"-based devices and phones (N800, N810, N900, N9, Jolla) and run it directly on the phone.
These days, my day-to-day podcast consumption happens with the built-in Podcasts app on the iPhone, but gPodder (on the Desktop) is still useful for downloading and archiving (hoarding) YouTube subscriptions (especially since there are so many ads on the web and TV versions of YouTube), mixes from Soundcloud and others and just interesting podcast episodes that might not be available in the future.
I even recently submitted a patch to re-introduce iPod support, so the current version can sync to iPod minis again if you want to have a distraction-free retro podcast listening experience on the go :)
Nowadays I'm using gPodder on a phone with Sailfish OS:
https://openrepos.net/content/keeperofthekeys/gpodder
The app is actually linked from the submitted page, but it's easy to miss there.
I also noticed that if I create list of shows to listen to later, I end up listening to more interesting stuff, as I filter out items which are not as useful few weeks later.
(This does not matter in terms of numbers, as that‘s at best a few thousand people, but still.)
[0] https://github.com/gpodder/gpodder/tree/adaptive
Edison Research says that desktops/laptops account for 13% of listening in Q4'2021, having dropped 7% since the start of that year. I'd predict that it falls to under 10% by the end of 2022.
In the early days of podcasts I listened to them on my computer (downloaded over precious dial up time, where the time to download the episode was longer than the time required to listen to it), but as soon as I got an iPod they were a mobile thing for me.
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Incidentally I had used JuiceReceiver for years until it stopped working (due to the SSL algos from 2005 finally giving in) and then wrote a replacement in C++/Qt with an online backend, just to track which episodes I listened to (and because it was fun, mostly).
I just discovered podverse from browsing f-droid a few days ago, has some similarities with pocket cast which I have been using since before they were sold the first time.
You can also use the news app for nextcloud to show podcasts along with rss news stories, if you are looking for something along those lines.
I actually just submitted the podverse link for discussion here just a few mins ago, so I am pasting a link:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32922268
It integrated with Panucci, which for me has an ideal (although a little unfinished) interface for playing podcasts/ebooks, I don't know what I'm going to do without Panucci when the N900 finally goes kaput. I heard its code is horrific, though, and that the qPodder guy hated it.
I've tried every iOS app I could find. They're all turrible for this use case. Yes, even Overcast. [1]
I truly wonder if anybody making the apps ever used their own apps.
I just tried gPodder. Alas, the UI is 1/4 size.
[1] Overcast shows played episodes in the unplayed tab. So to download episode 200, I have to scroll down thru 199 played episodes, then manually download the next episodes. Yes, I filed bug reports.
My favourite feature: The extension that lets you reencode the files. I use that to reencode all audio files to opus @ 20 kbit/s.
If you want to keep thousands of episodes forever that really saves space.
Most podcasts just offer ridiculously unnecessary high bitrates.
You can do similar things on Linux as well, but there it is easy to fix by setting `noexec` on /home.
(a) doesn't have a Web browser, or
(b) has some way to ensure the code it's running is not from a site where the user wrote all (or even just some) of it
I'm happy to be able to download "physical" (how ironic) copies of my favourites episodes in mp3 and can't wait to try to automatise their transfer to my fiio X3 for offline listening.
Also, I can see an alternative to Youtube in this, so feel free to share flow if you do use gPodder for staying uptodate with your YT subscriptions !
Full disclosure, my employer facilitates offering paid private feeds to podcast audiences.
It drives me crazy that on YouTube I pay for premium and still need to sidestep ads. It makes sense; the creators don’t get paid directly from my membership and if they did it would be fractions of pennies. But that’s the problem; I want to support them directly. The platform is nice, but it’s mostly fungible. The excellent content often isn’t.
I think an hour+ podcast is absolutely valuable. Some are incredibly thoughtful and well-produced. I hope more podcasters adopt this model!
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